Purple Biotech (NASDAQ:PPBT – Get Free Report) and Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS – Get Free Report) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings and profitability.
Risk and Volatility
Purple Biotech has a beta of 0.67, suggesting that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.41, suggesting that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
9.6% of Purple Biotech shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.9% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.0% of Purple Biotech shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation & Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Purple Biotech | N/A | N/A | -$26.39 million | ($23.25) | -0.07 |
| Ionis Pharmaceuticals | $874.09 million | 11.62 | -$381.39 million | ($3.46) | -17.67 |
Purple Biotech has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Ionis Pharmaceuticals. Ionis Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Purple Biotech, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Purple Biotech and Ionis Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Purple Biotech | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Ionis Pharmaceuticals | 1 | 4 | 17 | 0 | 2.73 |
Purple Biotech presently has a consensus target price of $30.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1,644.19%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $94.15, suggesting a potential upside of 53.99%. Given Purple Biotech’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Purple Biotech is more favorable than Ionis Pharmaceuticals.
Profitability
This table compares Purple Biotech and Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Purple Biotech | N/A | -147.77% | -111.59% |
| Ionis Pharmaceuticals | -64.76% | -111.08% | -17.41% |
Summary
Ionis Pharmaceuticals beats Purple Biotech on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Purple Biotech
Purple Biotech Ltd., a clinical-stage company, focuses on developing therapies to overcome tumor immune evasion and drug resistance for cancer patients in the United States. Its oncology pipeline includes CM24, a humanized monoclonal antibody that blocks the interactions of carcinoembryonic antigen related cell adhesion molecule 1 as a combination therapy with anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; NT219, a small molecule that targets and inhibits insulin receptor substrate 1 and 2, and signal transducer and activator of transcription, which is in Phase 1/2 clinical trials for the treatment recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck cancer or colorectal adenocarcinoma; and IM1240, a multi-valent antibody designed to activate anti-tumoral immune response against 5T4-positive tumors, which is in preclinical stage. The company has collaboration agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb Company to evaluate the combination of CM24 with the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab in addition to chemotherapy. The company was formerly known as Kitov Pharma Ltd and changed its name to Purple Biotech Ltd. in December 2020. The company is headquartered in Rehovot, Israel.
About Ionis Pharmaceuticals
Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. discovers and develops RNA-targeted therapeutics in the United States. The company offers SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in pediatric and adult patients; TEGSEDI, an antisense injection for the treatment of polyneuropathy caused by hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in adults; and WAYLIVRA, an antisense medicine for treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and familial partial lipodystrophy. It also develops medicines for various indications that are in phase 3 study, including Eplontersen as a monthly self-administered subcutaneous injection to treat all types of ATTR; Olezarsen for patients with FCS and severe hypertriglyceridemia (SHTG); Donidalorsen for patients with hereditary angioedema; ION363 for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Tofersen to inhibit the production of superoxide dismutase 1; Pelacarsen for patients with established cardiovascular disease and elevated lipoprotein(a); and Bepirovirsen to inhibit the production of viral proteins associated with hepatitis B virus. In addition, the company develops IONIS-FB-LRx to inhibit the production of complement factor B and the alternative complement pathway; and ION224 to reduce the production of diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2. It has a strategic collaboration with Biogen for the treatment of neurological disorders; and collaboration and license agreement with Metagenomi, Inc, AstraZeneca, Bayer AG, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Novartis, Roche, Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB, and PTC Therapeutics. The company was incorporated in 1989 and is based in Carlsbad, California.
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